Nuance Communications Inc's Competitiveness
A competitive positioning analysis and financial ratio benchmarking of Nuance Communications Inc (NUAN) against its publicly traded competitors: sales growth, net income, profitability, valuation and market share, plus each peer's market capitalization, revenue, income and employees. Free below: the top 5 peers. Subscriber access adds the full competitor list and CSV downloads.
Key Findings: Nuance Communications Inc vs Its Competitors
- TTM: Trailing 12-month revenue of 1,338M vs 498,771M combined for tracked competitors (0.3% combined share).
- Trending: Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is decelerating (-3.9% annualized vs trailing 12 months), vs decelerating (-27.4%) for its tracked peer group.
- Growth: Nuance Communications Inc generated -7.0% revenue growth year over year in Q1 2021, vs 26.8% for its tracked competitors combined.
- Profitability: Its -17.9% net margin compares with 25.2% for the peer group.
- Peer revenue share: Nuance Communications Inc accounted for 0.4% of combined revenue among its tracked peer group, down from 0.5% a year earlier.
- Peer differentiation: Revenue per employee of $0.12M compares with $3.56M for the peer group (0.0x).
Every figure above is sourced and cited in detail further down this page (Market Structure, Profitability & Cost Structure, Productivity vs Peers).
NUAN Sales vs. its Competitors, Q1 2021
Nuance Communications Inc reported revenue contraction of 7.03 % year on year in Q1 2021, below its competitors' combined revenue growth of 26.84 %.
With a net margin of -17.91 %, Nuance Communications Inc reported lower profitability than its competitors (25.23 %).
Nuance Communications Inc generated 0.35 % of the combined sales of its peer group, down from 0.48 % a year earlier.
Nuance Communications Inc vs. its Competitors, Q1 2021
Revenue growth, year on year
Net margin
Revenue run-rate vs trailing 12 months
TTM net margin
TTM = trailing twelve months. Run-rate annualizes the latest quarter (×4) and compares it to TTM. In millions of $. High-Confidence Competitors are named as a competitor directly in an SEC filing; Similar-Size Competitors are the closest peers by market-cap rank within the same industry; Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors are the closest peers by combined revenue growth, operating margin and ROIC, all independent of the competitor list.
TTM revenue, latest-quarter run-rate and net income/margin benchmarked across Nuance Communications Inc and its 4 competitor groupings. Available under Commercial License.
| Entity | TTM Revenue | Rev Run-rate vs TTM |
|---|---|---|
| Nuance Communications Inc | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| Competitors combined | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| High-Confidence Competitors (1) | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| Similar Growth & Profitability (6) | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
TTM revenue, run-rate and net margin benchmarking across Nuance Communications Inc's competitor groups requires a Commercial License.
For context: the Software & Programming industry grew revenue 16.0% year over year, combined, vs -7.0% for Nuance Communications Inc. Nuance Communications Inc's share of combined industry revenue moved from 0.12% to 0.10%, a loss of 0.02 percentage points.
Nuance Communications Inc's Competitor Quality Breadth
Share of each group, trailing 12 months: profitable (net margin > 0), expanding (revenue growth > 0), growing faster than the industry's own median, and financially distressed (Piotroski F-Score of 2 or below).
| Entity | Profitable | Expanding | Above Industry Growth | Distressed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nuance Communications Inc | No | No | No | No |
| Competitors combined (8) | ||||
| High-Confidence Competitors (1) | ||||
| Similar Growth & Profitability (8) | 62.50 % (5 of 8) | 50.00 % (4 of 8) | 0.00 % (0 of 8) | 42.90 % (3 of 7) |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Altman Z-Score is not shown here: it is not populated in the underlying data for any company. Percentages are of companies in each group that report the relevant metric, not of the full group size.
NUAN Stock Performance relative to its Competitors
NUAN Stock Performance relative to High-Confidence Competitors
NUAN Stock Performance relative to Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors
5 Best-Performing Tracked Competitors, Trailing 12 Months
| # | Competitor | TTM Share Price Return | vs U.S.A. 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3m Company | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 2 | Hello Group Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 3 | Adobe Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
TTM share price return and U.S.A. 500 outperformance for Nuance Communications Inc's best-performing tracked competitors requires a Commercial License.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months.
Nuance Communications Inc's Comment on Competition and Industry Peers
The several markets in which we compete are highly competitive and are subject
to rapid technology changes. There are a number of companies that develop or
may develop solutions and technologies that compete in our target markets; however,
currently there is no one company that directly competes with us across all
of our solutions and technologies. While we expect competition to continue to
increase both from existing competitors and new market entrants, we believe
that we will compete effectively based on many factors, including:
Specialized Professional Services. Our superior technology, when coupled with
the high quality and domain knowledge of our professional services organization,
allows our customers and partners to place a high degree of confidence and trust
in our ability to deliver results. We support our customers in designing and
building powerful innovative applications that specifically address their needs
and requirements.
International Coverage. The international reach of our solutions and technologies
is due to the broad language coverage of our offerings, including our voice
recognition and natural language understanding solutions, which provide recognition
for approximately 70 languages and dialects and natural-sounding synthesized
speech in over 160 voices, and support a broad range of hardware platforms and
operating systems. Our imaging technology supports more than 120 languages for
OCR and document handling, with up to 20 screen language choices, including
Asian languages.
Technological Superiority. Our voice recognition, NLU and imaging technologies,
applications and solutions are often recognized as the most innovative and proficient
in their respective categories. Our voice recognition and NLU solutions have
industry-leading recognition accuracy and provide a natural, voice-enabled interaction
with systems, devices and applications. Our OCR technology in our Imaging segment
is viewed as the most accurate in the industry. Technology publications, analyst
research and independent benchmarks have consistently indicated that our solutions
and technologies rank at or above performance levels of alternative solutions.
Broad Distribution Channels. Our ability to address the needs of specific markets,
such as financial, law, healthcare and government, and to introduce new solutions
and technologies quickly and effectively is provided by our direct sales force,
our extensive global network of resellers, comprising system integrators, independent
software vendors, value-added resellers, hardware vendors, telecommunications
carriers and distributors, and our e-commerce website.
We compete with companies such as Adobe, Google, iFlyTek, LivePerson, M*Modal,
Optum and 3M. In addition, a number of smaller companies offer solutions, technologies
or products that are competitive with our solutions and technologies in the
voice recognition, natural language understanding, text input and imaging markets.
In certain markets, some of our partners such as Avaya, Cisco, Convergys, and
Genesys develop and market products and services that might be considered substitutes
for our solutions and technologies. Current and potential competitors have established,
or may establish, cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties
to increase the ability of their technologies to address the needs of our prospective
customers.
Some of our competitors or potential competitors, such as Adobe, Google, and
3M, have significantly greater financial, technical and marketing resources
than we do. These competitors may be able to respond more rapidly than we can
to new or emerging technologies or changes in customer requirements. They may
also devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of their
products than we do.
Publicly Traded Peers of Nuance Communications Inc
Revenue and income for trailing 12 months, in millions of $, except employees| Company | Market Cap | Revenues |
|---|---|---|
| Nuance Communications Inc | 17,768.93 | 1,338.06 |
| Alphabet Inc | 4,155,641.49 | 445,866.00 |
| Adobe Inc | 91,186.48 | 25,970.00 |
| 3m Company | 89,163.23 | 25,180.00 |
| Hello Group Inc | 1,655.71 | 1,482.48 |
| Liveperson Inc | 37.92 | 228.89 |
| SUBTOTAL | 4,355,470.06 | 500,108.86 |
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Sources: Nuance Communications Inc's official press releases and regulatory filings; CSIMarket.com's market research; and the financial filings and press releases of the other companies cited.
Updated on:
Focus of this report: publicly traded companies. Ten additional tables on Nuance Communications Inc versus competitors, including market share analysis, are in the navigation menu under Competition. To download the tables, please subscribe.
Nuance Communications Inc's Competitors Named by the Company
Competitive relationships identified from SEC filings and corroborating sources, each with a basis and confidence.| Competitor | Basis | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Liveperson Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
Filing basis, confidence, active dates and source counts for Nuance Communications Inc's named competitors require a Commercial License.
Methodology: relationships are extracted from SEC filings (named-competitor disclosures) and corroborating sources. Named by the company = explicitly disclosed as a competitor; Inferred = derived from corroborating signals. Confidence reflects evidence strength.
Nuance Communications Inc's Business Segment Mix vs Peers
Revenue by operating segment or division, as named and reported by each company. Segment names are the filer's own and are not standardized across companies. Do not assume a same-named or similarly-named segment is defined identically between two companies. Shares are of each company's own total revenue and are not required to sum to 100% (intersegment revenue, unallocated items).| Company | Largest Segment |
|---|---|
| Nuance Communications Inc | Health Care 62.35 % |
| Alphabet Inc | Google Services 85.60 % |
| Adobe Inc | Reportable 100.00 % |
| 3m Company | Safety and Industrial 47.55 % |
Source: operating segment revenue as reported in each company's SEC filings (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API, leaf-level reportable segments only (parent roll-up segments are excluded where sub-segments are separately disclosed).
Nuance Communications Inc's Productivity vs Peers Comparison
Revenue and income per employee, trailing 12 months, in $; market cap in millions of $| Company | Market Cap | Revenue / Employee | Income / Employee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuance Communications Inc | 17,769 | 115,350 | -8,550 |
| Alphabet Inc | 4,155,641 | 9,645,768 | 5,283,078 |
| Adobe Inc | 91,186 | 828,125 | 232,270 |
| 3m Company | 89,163 | 416,198 | 49,785 |
| Hello Group Inc | 1,656 | 1,322,458 | 102,884 |
| Liveperson Inc | 38 | 372,185 | -89,420 |
| PEERS TOTAL | 4,337,701 | 3,560,258 | 1,816,837 |
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Nuance Communications Inc's Geographic Revenue Exposure vs Peers
Revenue by country/region as reported in each company's most recent filing. Disclosure granularity varies by filer (some report by country, others by broad region) and is shown as disclosed.| Company | Largest Market |
|---|---|
| Nuance Communications Inc | United States 80.82 % |
| Alphabet Inc | United States 47.77 % |
| Adobe Inc | Americas 58.69 % |
| 3m Company | Americas 54.09 % |
| Liveperson Inc | Americas 50.30 % |
| Qumu Corporation | North America 62.47 % |
Source: revenue geography as reported in each company's SEC filings (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API. Percentages are of that company's own total consolidated revenue for its most recent reported period.
Nuance Communications Inc's Profitability & Cost Structure
Trailing 12-month margins from SEC-filed financials. Operating margin is compared to the Software & Programming industry median; gross margin, EBITDA margin and capital intensity are compared to the live industry average (343 companies). See the full Software & Programming industry profitability benchmarks.| Metric | Company | Industry | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Margin | 59.86 % | 64.28 % (avg) | -4.4 pp |
| Operating Margin | 2.13 % | industry median | +9.9 pp |
| EBITDA Margin | 8.45 % | 2.53 % (avg) | +5.9 pp |
| Capital Intensity (Capex / Revenue) | 3.85 % | 4.79 % (avg) | -0.9 pp |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. SG&A and R&D as a share of revenue have limited coverage as this data is backfilled and appear only where reported. Higher capital intensity is not inherently negative; it reflects the industry's asset requirements.
Nuance Communications Inc's Valuation vs Competitive Position
Valuation multiples vs the Software & Programming industry average (343 companies, excluding loss-making/negative-equity outliers), alongside returns on capital for context on whether a premium or discount lines up with measurably stronger or weaker returns. See the full Software & Programming industry valuation benchmarks.| Metric | Company | Industry Average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | - | 39.5x | - |
| EV / EBITDA | 161.9x | 21.7x | +140.2x |
| P/B | 11.7x | 5.4x | +6.3x |
| Return on Equity | -6.64 % | industry aggregate | -29.78 % |
| Return on Invested Capital | 0.75 % | -0.26 % (avg) | 1.01 % |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. A valuation premium or discount is not, by itself, a judgment of over- or under-valuation. Compare it against the return and growth context shown elsewhere on this page.
Nuance Communications Inc's Multi-Year Financial Trajectory
Fiscal-year revenue growth, operating margin, return on invested capital and P/E, as reported in SEC filings.| Metric | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue Growth | -59.20 % | 186.08 % | 0.82 % | 0.15 % | 4.62 % | -16.36 % | -18.22 % | -1.70 % |
| Operating Margin | -13.88 % | -1.04 % | 5.20 % | 1.88 % | -2.26 % | 8.12 % | 6.76 % | 2.13 % |
| Return on Invested Capital | -1.17 % | -0.26 % | 1.38 % | 0.54 % | -0.71 % | 2.20 % | 2.11 % | 0.75 % |
| P/E | - | - | - | - | - | 21.4x | - | - |
Source: CSIMarket API, fiscal-year figures. P/E is this company's own historical ratio at each fiscal year end and can swing sharply around an earnings trough: that is real, not a data error.
Nuance Communications Inc's Strategic Group Map
Every company in Nuance Communications Inc's industry and named-competitor list, plotted by trailing 12-month revenue growth and operating margin. Nuance Communications Inc is shown in red; its closest peers by combined growth, margin and ROIC (the Similar Growth & Profitability group above) are labeled.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Extreme outlier values (from near-zero-revenue companies) are excluded from the plotted cloud but never from the highlighted company or its labeled peers.
Nuance Communications Inc's Competitive Forces (Porter's Five Forces)
Only the forces this data can support honestly are shown; the other three are marked as such rather than guessed.| Force | Assessment | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Barriers to Entry | Lower than typical for the industry | Capital intensity (capex / revenue) of 3.85 % vs industry average 4.79 % (see Profitability & Cost Structure above) |
| Supplier Power | Not covered on this page | See Nuance Communications Inc's dedicated suppliers page for concentration and dependency data |
| Buyer Power | Not covered on this page | See Nuance Communications Inc's dedicated customers page for concentration and dependency data |
| Threat of Substitutes | - | No systematic data source for cross-product substitution exists in this system; not estimated |
Note: this is a partial, data-grounded application of the framework, not a complete strategic assessment. Rivalry and barriers-to-entry readings are mechanical translations of the HHI and capital-intensity figures shown elsewhere on this page, not independent judgments.
Nuance Communications Inc's Industry Attractiveness & Competitive Strength
A CSIMarket composite, not a standard field: each axis is an equal-weighted average of three factors already shown elsewhere on this page (industry growth, industry profitability and rivalry for attractiveness; relative market share, profitability and growth vs industry for strength). Disclosed as a designed methodology, not a precision measurement.
Nuance Communications Inc falls in the Low attractiveness / Medium strength cell: Harvest.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Each axis score is a simple 1(low)/2(medium)/3(high) average across its three inputs -- a transparent, disclosed simplification, not a validated academic scoring model.
Nuance Communications Inc's SWOT
Every point below is a fixed rule applied to a metric already shown elsewhere on this page (Market Structure, Profitability, Valuation, Run-Rate, Stock Performance, Quality Breadth) not an independent strategic assessment. A blank quadrant means no rule was met, not that none apply.Strengths
- Operating margin 9.9 points above the industry median.
Weaknesses
- Return on equity 29.8 points below the industry aggregate.
- Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is decelerating (-3.9% annualized vs trailing 12 months).
Opportunities
- Industry revenue growing at a healthy 11.6% median pace.
Threats
- Tracked peer group's revenue run-rate is broadly decelerating (-27.4% annualized).
Methodology: mechanical, rule-based SWOT. Each bullet reuses a figure already sourced and cited elsewhere on this page; nothing here is generated narrative or independent analyst judgment.
Nuance Communications Inc's Financial Strength vs Peers Comparison
Quick ratio, working capital, debt to equity and asset turnover, trailing 12 months| Company | Quick Ratio | Working Capital | Debt / Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuance Communications Inc | 0.20 | 0.59 | 0.71 |
| Alphabet Inc | 0.55 | 2.13 | 0.13 |
| Adobe Inc | 0.46 | 0.85 | 0.55 |
| 3m Company | - | 1.57 | 3.20 |
| Hello Group Inc | 2.56 | 4.68 | 0.00 |
| Liveperson Inc | 0.81 | 1.13 | - |
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Quick ratio = cash / current liabilities; working capital ratio = current assets / current liabilities; asset turnover = revenue / total assets. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Nuance Communications Inc's Revenue and Income Growth vs Peers
Quarterly revenue and net income growth, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Revenue Y/Y | Income Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuance Communications Inc | Q4 2021 | -7.0 % | - |
| Alphabet Inc | Q2 2026 | +24.2 % | +297.9 % |
| Adobe Inc | Q3 2026 | +12.9 % | +3.1 % |
| 3m Company | Q2 2026 | +2.5 % | +29.4 % |
| Hello Group Inc | Q4 2025 | +2.4 % | -19.0 % |
| Liveperson Inc | Q2 2026 | -11.9 % | - |
| PEERS TOTAL | +22.0 % | +272.8 % |
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Growth is shown only where both periods are positive. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Nuance Communications Inc's Peers' Costs of Sales and Capital Expenditures
Context for revenue growth: peer costs and capex, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Costs Y/Y | Capex Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuance Communications Inc | Q4 2021 | +3,182.0 % | -28.8 % |
| Alphabet Inc | Q2 2026 | +17.7 % | +100.1 % |
| Adobe Inc | Q3 2026 | +18.8 % | +18.1 % |
| 3m Company | Q2 2026 | +4.7 % | +7.2 % |
| Hello Group Inc | Q4 2025 | +4.4 % | +80.0 % |
| Liveperson Inc | Q2 2026 | -12.5 % | -29.1 % |
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Nuance Communications Inc's Returns and Turnover vs Peers
ROA, ROI and ROE (trailing 12 months), receivables and inventory turnover| Company | ROA | ROI | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuance Communications Inc | - | - | - |
| Alphabet Inc | 35.42% | 42.01% | 50.84% |
| Adobe Inc | 24.46% | 39.34% | 62.88% |
| 3m Company | 8.27% | 11.16% | 76.55% |
| Hello Group Inc | 5.85% | 6.75% | 7.28% |
| Liveperson Inc | - | - | - |
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ROA = net income / total assets; ROI = net income / investments; ROE = net income / equity; turnover ratios use trailing 12 month revenue (receivables) and cost of sales (inventory).
Nuance Communications Inc's Valuation vs Peers
P/E, price to sales, PEG, price to cash flow and price to book| Company | P/E | Price / Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Nuance Communications Inc | - | 13.28 |
| Alphabet Inc | 16.96 | 9.32 |
| Adobe Inc | 12.94 | 3.51 |
| 3m Company | 30.32 | 3.54 |
| Hello Group Inc | 2.06 | 1.12 |
| Liveperson Inc | - | 0.17 |
| PEERS AVERAGE | 17.12 | 8.71 |
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P/E = price / diluted EPS (trailing 12 months); PEG = P/E divided by EPS growth; the average row divides the peers' combined market cap by their combined income, sales, cash flow and equity.